When I am Asked When I am asked how I began writing poems, I talk about the indifference of nature. … More
Tag: Grief
Autumn
Autumn One night goes on longer than the rest, never so long, whiled away. Then dawn. Goodbye, insects. Hollow casings … More
God’s Grief
God’s Grief Great parentwho must have started outwith such high hopes.What magnitude of suffering,the immensity of guilt,the staggering despair.A mind … More
Go well
I have walked into the grief. I have walked into brave space, mine and others’. I have sat in … More
Courage
Courage It is in the small things we see it. The child’s first step, as awesome as an earthquake. … More
Do not pass go, do not collect £200
The grief keeps on coming. Though I write from my place of privilege, of safety, it still feels relentless. … More
Living in the layers
The Layers I have walked through many lives, some of them my own, and I am not who I … More
On the Edge
On the Edge After your mother dies, you will learn to live on the edge of life, to brace … More
Practice
Practice To weep unbidden, to wake at night in order to weep, to wait for the whisker on the face … More
Grandmaman
A few words about the piece below. I wrote the first draft of it in 1989, a year after the … More
Dreaming about X
I dreamt about my friend X last night. I don’t think I normally dream about him, and don’t recall having … More
Lifesaving Poems: Ann Gray’s ‘mercifully ordain that we may become aged together’
It was such a privilege to read from the cornucopia of talent assembled in Lifesaving Poems at the Greenbelt Festival over … More
Bookmark
Made of orange card, it’s an outline of my son’s hand. Comprising two sections, one his tiny, spread fingers, … More
Lifesaving Poems: Pablo Neruda’s ‘The Dead Woman’ (La Muerta)
The Dead Woman If suddenly you do not exist,if suddenly you no longer live,I shall live on. I do not … More
Guest blog post: David Ferry’s ‘Lake Water’, by Martyn Crucefix
This is the second in a series of guest blog posts about poets who have been overlooked and who should … More
Guest blog post: Writing my way through bereavement, by Sue Hepworth
Writing my way through bereavement I don’t approve of death. I’m with Edna St Vincent Millay: I am not … More
On Discovering My Voice
I am at a thing. Canals are there. Sunlight on them, the last tourists, a shifting of the seasons. ‘Soon … More
Ann Gray’s genius
I am taking a break from writing brand new blog posts over the summer. Instead of posting new work I … More
Lifesaving Poems 